Hounds of Darkness

Huge beast, lawful evil

Armor Class 18 (natural)
Hit Points 285 (30d12+90)
Speed 60 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
21 (+5)	15 (+2)	16 (+3)	10 (+0)	11 (+0)	9 (-1)

Skills Perception +4, Stealth +6
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 19
Challenge 11 (7,200 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Keen Senses. Due to the hound’s keen senses of smell and hearing, along with superior vision, the hound has advantage on all perception checks.
• Massive Leap. The hound has the ability to leap great distances. Without any running start, the hound can leap 50 feet. With at least a 10 foot running start, the distance increases to 75 feet. The leap costs the hound half of its movement. In addition, any creature in the area the hound lands has to make a Dexterity save (DC 10) to avoid being crushed. On a failed save, the target takes 44 (8d10) bludgeoning damage. All damage is avoided on a successful save, and the target moves from under the hound to the nearest adjacent space.
• Detect Chaos and Good. The hound has the ability to sense both Chaos and Good. It requires an action, and allows the hound to know the location of any source of Chaos or Good within 120 feet.

ACTIONS

• Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit:27 (4d10+5) slashing damage. In addition, if the target is medium or smaller sized, the target must make an escape roll (DC 15) or be swallowed whole.
• Swallowed. While a creature is swallowed, it is considered blinded and restrained. It has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the hound. At the start of the hounds turn, any swallowed creature suffers 9 (2d8) bludgeoning damage plus 4 (1d8) acid damage. A swallowed creature can attempt to cut its way out. If it can do a cumulative 25 points of slashing or piercing damage to the inside of the hound (AC 15), they cut a hole through the stomach and can escape. The creature’s body immediately closes the hole by compressing the muscles together so that the hole is not available to any other creature that has been swallowed.

ABOUT

These malevolent hounds tower above the earth, standing 15-20 feet at the shoulder and weighing over 6 tons. They have broad chests and tapered waists, with wide heads and short snouts filled with fangs. Their fur is short in the summer, sometimes splotchy, and sometimes falling out altogether, exposing wrinkled, reddish-pink skin. In winter months, they grow a shaggy coat of fur, usually dark red or reddish-black in color. Their eyes burn with an eldritch fire that glows in the dark, sending wisps of blue smoke rising from their heads. Their breath is a gale of fetid stink. When they walk, the world rumbles; when they leap, it shakes; and when they do battle, it quakes.

Roving Destruction. Though they are rare, the hounds are found in all climes and all terrains. They generally hunt alone, though they are occasionally found in pairs. They will eat anything and do not reason when they are hungry. They neither make dens nor stop moving. Once in a great while, they settle in a region and hunt the region over, particularly if that area has an abundance of its favorite food.

Stalkers of Fey. If well-fed, they tend to only hunt faerie creatures of all stripes, especially elves. They have a peculiar ability to sniff out creatures that are good or chaotic, both dispositions for which they have an unreasoning hatred. Elves have a wholly natural fear and hatred of these creatures, for they often terrorize their villages and towns. Few can tame them, but some have tried and fewer still have succeeded, most ending their days as a dog meal.

Fearless Hunters. The hounds have a tremendous sense of smell and a keen sense, not unlike a dragon’s. When their prey is located, they attempt to lay in wait for it, hoping that the victims come within their leaping range so that they can pounce and devour the hapless creature. When this fails, if they are discovered, for instance, they attack by charging outright, leaping, and attempting to swallow their victim.